August 21, 2007

August 21, 2007

This morning we drove south across the border from Canada into the US. After quickly passing thru the border guard station, the Dept of Agriculture then waved us over for inspection. This lady looked at every food item we had. She carefully examined our half-eaten Oscar Meyer bologna and ballpark franks. She then spied an orange in our cooler. Apparently it was contraband. We had to eat it in front of her and leave her the peelings. We have illegals and terrorists swarming across the border but our government is more concerned about the orange we bought in a Canadian grocery store. Unbelievable!

From the border we drove south to Omak, WA where we turned west on Rt. 20 to cross over the Cascade Mountains. This part of the drive was very picturesque. If we didn’t have a long drive ahead of us we would have liked to stop along the way in Winthrop, WA. It seemed like a very cute western-themed town. Just past the summit we come to the North Cascade Scenic Drive. It follows the Skagit River thru a canyon past several man-made lakes and hydroelectric dams. The Lake Diablo overlook had lots of interesting interpretative signs about the area.

The Skagit canyon is straddled by the North Cascades National Park. We stop at their visitor center. This park was just established in 1987 and seems to be just some congressman’s political pet project, probably to bring tax dollars and jobs to the area. Nothing here seems worthy of National Park status, mostly just some snowy isolated mountains. There are no roads in the actual park. The visitor center and hiking trails are all outside the park in the Skagit River Byway.

After two long driving days we finally reach the west coast again and we spend the night in a private park in Mt. Vernon, WA.